Plenty of good tradespeople run their whole business from a Facebook page. It's free, it's on your phone and your regulars already follow it. So is a website worth the bother?
The honest answer is that they do different jobs. A Facebook page talks to people who already know you. A website is how strangers find you, check you out and get in touch, often at 10pm, without ever having heard your name.
According to the government's UK Business Data Survey 2024, 26% of UK micro businesses have no website at all (source). If some of your competitors are in that 26%, that's an opportunity.
What a Facebook page does well
- Keeping regulars in touch. Past customers see your posts, recommend you in local groups and message you directly.
- Showing your work. Photos of finished jobs, posted as you go, build a picture of the quality you do.
- Local groups. "Can anyone recommend a plumber?" is asked in community groups every day, and a page gives people something to tag.
Keep it. Nothing on this page says stop.
Where a Facebook page falls short
- You don't own it. Facebook decides who sees your posts, what your page looks like and whether your account stays open. If your account is locked or hacked, your page can go with it.
- Your details get buried. Your phone number, prices and the towns you cover sit under weeks of posts. Someone with a leak won't scroll.
- Not everyone uses it. Some of your best customers aren't on Facebook, and people who aren't logged in are often asked to log in before they can see more.
- It doesn't answer the search. When someone searches for your trade and their town, Google looks for a page that says exactly what you do and where. A website on your own address is built to be that page. A Facebook page sometimes shows up; you can't count on it.
What a website does that a page can't
A website is yours, on your own address, such as yourbusiness.co.uk. It puts the things a new customer needs in one place, in the order they need them, and it's still there in ten years' time. Customers can book or send an enquiry while you're up a ladder, and you get it by email the moment it's sent.
It also makes everything else work harder. Your Google Business Profile, your van, your invoices and your Facebook page can all point to one place that answers every question a customer has.
The five things a trade website needs
You don't need twenty pages. You need five things, done properly.
- A call button at the top, on every page, that rings you when tapped on a phone.
- What you do and where, in plain words: your services and the towns you cover.
- Proof you're the real thing: your Gas Safe, NICEIC or other registration numbers, your insurance and photos of your own work.
- Real reviews, with names and towns, copied from Google or Facebook with permission.
- An easy way to get in touch: a short enquiry form, and online booking if you do quotes or visits by appointment.
Our pages for plumbers, electricians, roofers and builders go through each of these in detail for your trade.
How to make them work together
- Put your website address in your Facebook page's details, and link to your website in your bio.
- Share each finished job on Facebook, and add the best photos to your website's gallery.
- Put your website on your Google Business Profile, your van and your invoices.
- When someone asks for a recommendation in a local group, your website is the link to post.
What it costs
Anything from free, if you build it yourself on a basic plan, to £100 a month with some built-for-you services and a year's contract. We've compared twelve options with their prices.
Setout builds trade websites for £39 a month including VAT, with your web address included and no contract. We can build it from your Facebook page and photos, and you see it on your phone before you pay. Ask us to build yours.